Notice of Privacy Practices

Privacy Officer: Victoria Dean (732) 588-0999
Effective Date: May 18, 2020
This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Your Rights: You have the right to get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record; correct your paper or electronic medical record; request confidential communication; ask us to limit the information we share; get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information; get a copy of this privacy notice; choose someone to act for you; file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

Bridge Women’s Center has adopted this General HIPAA Compliance Policy in order to recognize the requirement to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”); as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act of 2009 (Title XIII of division A and Title IV of division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) and the HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule (Effective Date: March 26, 2013). We acknowledge that full compliance with the HIPAA Final Rule is required by or before September 23, 2013.

Bridge Women’s Center hereby acknowledges our duty and responsibility to protect the privacy and security of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“IHI”) generally, and Protected Health Information (“PHI”) as defined in the HIPAA Regulations, under the regulations implementing HIPAA, other federal and state laws protecting the confidentiality of personal information, and under principles of general and professional ethics. We also acknowledge our duty and responsibility to support and facilitate the timely and unimpeded flow of health information for lawful and appropriate purposes.

Scope of Policy
This policy governs General HIPAA Compliance for Bridge Women’s Center . All personnel of Bridge Women’s Center must comply with this policy. Demonstrated competence in the requirements of this policy is an important part of the responsibilities of every member of the workforce.
Officers, agents, employees, Business Associates, contractors, affected vendors, temporary workers and volunteers must read, understand and comply with this policy in full and at all times.

Assumptions
- Bridge Women’s Center hereby recognizes its status as a Covered Entity under the definitions contained in the HIPAA Regulations.
- Bridge Women’s Center must comply with HIPAA and the HIPAA implementing regulations in accordance with the requirements at 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164, as amended.
- Full compliance with HIPAA is mandatory and failure to comply can bring severe sanctions and penalties. Possible sanctions and penalties include, but are not limited to: civil monetary penalties, criminal penalties including prison sentences, and loss of revenue and reputation from negative publicity.
- Full compliance with HIPAA strengthens our ability to meet other compliance obligations, and will support and strengthen our non-HIPAA compliance requirements and efforts.
- Full compliance with HIPAA reduces the overall risk of inappropriate uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information (PHI) and reduces the risk of breaches of confidential health data.
- The requirements of the HIPAA Administrative Simplification Regulations (including the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules) implement sections 1171-1180 of the Social Security Act (the Act), sections 262 and 264 of Public Law 104-191, section 105 of 492 Public Law 110-233, sections 13400-13424 of Public Law 111-5, and section 1104 of Public Law 111-148.